In a day in the life of Grace on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at Grace School, here are just a few of the many uses of technology in our classrooms:
3rd Grade-
A 3rd grade teacher set up math centers in her classroom focusing around the concept of remainders. She used a book, A Remainder of One, to introduce the concept. Students used varied manipulatives in two different centers, worked in their math journal in one center, used the Notebook computers to visit the interactive math site which ties directly into our math program where teachers can view student progress in another center, and in yet one more, a SMART center, students use the Airliners and the SMARTBoard to practice cloning and infinite cloning images and regrouped to show arrays and remainders.
1st Grade-
A 1st grade class recorded their voice to go along with an 'All About Me' slideshow they created using PowerPoint and SMARTNotebook software. The students even chose their own music!
5th Grade-
Students used their ePal email accounts to study for a social studies test later in the day while at the same time practiced sending messages with proper 'netiquette' in preparation for blogging activities they will begin soon.
3rd Grade-
Students in 3rd grade were immersed in a keyboarding camp that will run the rest of this week in the afternoon. Students learned keyboarding skills through several activities including direct instruction with two teachers in the computer lab, drill and practice activities on the classroom computers, and other handwritten activities involving color connections and key/letter identification.
7th & 8th Grade-
Middle school Yearbook students began their class by checking their school email accounts for any information or announcements pertinent to the class. They checked-in for the day by accessing the Yearbook collaborative website hosted by Google sites which contains important information about assignments, deadlines, and announcements. Students completed a self-evaluation which was posted on the comments section of their personal page and worked on the appropriate assigned spreads using the Adobe CS3, including PhotoShop, InDesign, and Illustrator.
This is what I saw yesterday...there's a lot more going on at Grace, so stay tuned for updates about what other grade levels and classes are doing!
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
What Makes You Dance?
In our PLC we are discussing ways to promote learning through project-based digital tools, the Internet, and Web 2.0. So, we ask our teachers, what makes you dance? Is it the school, the environment, the students, the parents, your colleagues, what you teach, what you learn, or something else? At Grace, we have the opportunity to explore new possibilities and challenge our students to become independent thinkers in order for them to become life long learners. As 21st century learners, it is difficult for some us to understand how this "works" in a world that does not yet exist as we know it now.
Maybe some teachers prefer to look at what does not make them dance...is it fear of the unknown, is it not enough time, is it, "I'm too old for this," is it not enough support, is it not enough money, or is it simply, I don't know how? Whatever the reason, it is okay to have uncertainties because the benefit of working in a collaborative environment like Grace with students who want to learn is that, as teachers, we are facilitators of learning and have exceptional colleagues who support us in our own paths. It is our job to provide our students with the tools they need to go out into the world and make a difference. And despite our fears or challenges, we really do use the tools we have available to make learning happen and happen at a higher level.
Kevin Jarett, a technology facilitator in Northfield, New Jersey, said, "Technology is evolving faster than ever before-bringing people together, eliminating barriers, facilitating understanding and knowledge transfer, and improving the world around us with each passing day."
Jarett goes on to say that there's never been a better time to be an educator, according to Diana Fingal, Senior Editor of Learning & Leading with Technology. Then in an another article about HP's Innovations in Education grant program, she quotes Principal Seema Sapru at the Heritage School in Kolkata, India, "The teacher will no longer serve as a disseminator of information via lectures and textbooks. Rather, the teacher will adopt the roles of facilator, tutor, and learner. Similarly, the student will abandon the role of solitary memorizer of facts and principles for the roles of researcher, problem solver, and strategist."
Our students at Grace will do this with their teachers and their peers so that they develop communication and inquiry skills, learn to be flexible, develop an understanding of how the world works, and achieve the feeling that, as individuals, they can do something to change the world.
Knowing that our students will leave Grace with this skillset, what makes you want to dance?
Maybe some teachers prefer to look at what does not make them dance...is it fear of the unknown, is it not enough time, is it, "I'm too old for this," is it not enough support, is it not enough money, or is it simply, I don't know how? Whatever the reason, it is okay to have uncertainties because the benefit of working in a collaborative environment like Grace with students who want to learn is that, as teachers, we are facilitators of learning and have exceptional colleagues who support us in our own paths. It is our job to provide our students with the tools they need to go out into the world and make a difference. And despite our fears or challenges, we really do use the tools we have available to make learning happen and happen at a higher level.
Kevin Jarett, a technology facilitator in Northfield, New Jersey, said, "Technology is evolving faster than ever before-bringing people together, eliminating barriers, facilitating understanding and knowledge transfer, and improving the world around us with each passing day."
Jarett goes on to say that there's never been a better time to be an educator, according to Diana Fingal, Senior Editor of Learning & Leading with Technology. Then in an another article about HP's Innovations in Education grant program, she quotes Principal Seema Sapru at the Heritage School in Kolkata, India, "The teacher will no longer serve as a disseminator of information via lectures and textbooks. Rather, the teacher will adopt the roles of facilator, tutor, and learner. Similarly, the student will abandon the role of solitary memorizer of facts and principles for the roles of researcher, problem solver, and strategist."
Our students at Grace will do this with their teachers and their peers so that they develop communication and inquiry skills, learn to be flexible, develop an understanding of how the world works, and achieve the feeling that, as individuals, they can do something to change the world.
Knowing that our students will leave Grace with this skillset, what makes you want to dance?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Community, Collaboration, & Communication
The 3C's as we are calling them, I believe, are essential for us to learn about ourselves and build upon our vision of empower students and teachers to think critically with digital tools, the Internet, and Web 2.0 (or maybe Web 4.0).
I'm looking at Appendix A at the "Essential Learning Functions" and am thinking about a fabulous group of people who came to an optional in-service today to learn how to make their lines of communication better which will ultimately improve their immediate community, but also the Grace community. This could not have happened without collaboration. We are "doing" the "list" in Appendix A without even realizing it. We are creating opportunities for students in alignment with the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and teachers don't even realize it. Life is just that great for our students right now, and I am proud to be a part of what we have and what Grace will become.
It's amazing to me that everything stems from an idea which insists that we can always improve. We are all learners, students and teachers together, and I find myself wondering, "Is this real?" I ask myself this question because we are learning so much so fast, it is very difficult to keep up, but it does come back to the 3C's. It's a book, a PLC, an idea, a website, an app, a podcast, a wiki, a conversation, an email, or a smile that brings us all together in a place where we are learning to lead and living to serve.
I'm looking at Appendix A at the "Essential Learning Functions" and am thinking about a fabulous group of people who came to an optional in-service today to learn how to make their lines of communication better which will ultimately improve their immediate community, but also the Grace community. This could not have happened without collaboration. We are "doing" the "list" in Appendix A without even realizing it. We are creating opportunities for students in alignment with the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and teachers don't even realize it. Life is just that great for our students right now, and I am proud to be a part of what we have and what Grace will become.
It's amazing to me that everything stems from an idea which insists that we can always improve. We are all learners, students and teachers together, and I find myself wondering, "Is this real?" I ask myself this question because we are learning so much so fast, it is very difficult to keep up, but it does come back to the 3C's. It's a book, a PLC, an idea, a website, an app, a podcast, a wiki, a conversation, an email, or a smile that brings us all together in a place where we are learning to lead and living to serve.
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